Device for use with gas appliances

ABSTRACT

A gas igniting device and a thermo-electric element of an ignition-safety device are mounted on a base plate. A burner tube has a 90* bend and is composed of two mirror-symmetrical shell sections of semi-cylindrical cross-section. This burner tube has an end adjacent to and another end remote from the base plate, and the latter is provided with a pair of upstanding mounting ribs projecting at right angles to one another with one of said ribs extending tangentially of the burner tube and the other being connected to the same so that an annular gap for entry of primary combustion air exists between the base plate and the adjacent end of the burner tube.

United States Patent [191 Reutter et at.

[ DEVICE FOR USE WITH GAS APPLIANCES [75] Inventors: Josef Reutter, Weilheim; Josef Schmid, Wernau/Neckar, both of Germany [73] Assignee: Junkers & Co., GmbII,

Wernau/Neckar, Gennany 22 Filed: Apr. 14, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 244,041

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data llII WIN I Aug. 28, 1973 3,182,707 5/1965 Batsoli 431/353 X R26,743 12/1969 Loveland 431/343 X Primary Examiner-Edward G. Favors Attorney-Michael S, Striker [5 7 ABSTRACT A gas igniting device and a thermo-electric element of an ignition-safety device are mounted on a base plate. I

A burner tube has a 90 bend and is composed of two mirror-symmetrical shell sections of semi-cylindrical cross-section. This burner tube has an end adjacent to and another end remote from thebase plate, and the latter is provided with a pair of upstanding mounting ribs projecting at right angles to one another with one of said ribs extending tangentially of the burner tube and the other being connected to the same so that an annular gap for entry of primary combustion air exists between the' base plate and the adjacent end of the burner tube.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures DEVICE FOR USE WITII GAS APPLIANCES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for use with gas appliances, and more particularly to a device for igniting and supervising the ignition of gas which is used in gas appliances.

There exist appliances including refrigerators which are gas-operated and in which gas is burned which must of course be ignited and whose ignition must be supervised. It is known for this purpose to provide devices which effect such ignition and which also supervise the ignition. Generally speaking, the known devices are ef fective for their intended purpose. They do, however, suffer from certain disadvantages, among them the fact that they are rather complicated and therefore bulky and expensive, and also that the gas ignition tube which is provided in such devices is formed with air apertures through which primary combustion air is allowed to enter and which frequently become clogged with dirt or other contaminants. Because the gas combustion tube is usually mounted on a base plate of the device in nonmovable relationship, the cleaning of the air inlet apertures and also the removal of dirt and contaminants from the gas jet located within the ignition tube can be effected only with difficulty, requiring disassembly of the device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a general object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved device of the type here under discussion which is simpler in its construction than those known from the prior art.

An additional object of the. invention is to provide such an improved device in which the problems existing in the prior-art devices relative to dirt contamination are avoided.

In pursuance of these objects and of others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides in a device of the type here under discussion, which, briefly stated, comprises a base plate, a gas igniting device on the base plate, and a thermo-electric element of an ignition-safety device also provided on the base plate. A burner tube has a 90 bend and is composed of two mirror-symmetrical shell sections of semi-cylindrical cross-section, the burner tube having an end adjacent to and an other end remote from the base plate. A pair of mounting ribs project from the base plate at right angles to one another and one of these ribs extends tangentially of the burner tube whereas the other rib is connected to the burner tube so that an annular gap for entry of primary combustion air exists between the base plate and the adjacent end of the burner tube.

According to a currently preferred embodiment, th edges of the shell sections of which the burner tube is composed are deformed so as to form flanges which can be connected with one another as will be discussed later. The two mountings ribs may be of one-piece with the base plate, advantageously in form of a casting.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will'be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a front elevational view of one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of FIG. 1, partially sectioned.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing the drawing in detail, it will be see that in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base plate of the device is identified with reference numeral 10. It constitutes an ignition burner underpart 11 which serves for connection with a gas supply conduit 12.

Holding means 13 are provided on the base plate 10, for holding an ignition device 14 and another holding means 15 is provided for a thermo-element I6. The ignition device 14 and the thermo-element 16 are known and the details of their constructions forms no part of the present invention.

The edge of the plate 13 is advantageously although not necessarily configurated as a circumferentially extending flange l3 which makes it possible to locate the base plate 10 for instance in an installation opening of an appliance, such as a refrigerator or the like, closing this opening with the flange I7 serving to secure the device to the wall in which the opening is provided. Nonillustrated bores are provided for this purpose in the plate 10 and/or the flange 17 for insertion of appropriate connectors such as screws or the like.

The gas supply conduit 12 is connected with the underpart 11 via a clamping ring 18 which is tightened by means of a screw threaded arrangement 19, resulting simultaneously in a tightening of a clamping sleeve 22 which is directed towards the inlet opening 20 of the ignition tube 21; a gas ignition jet 23 is removably mounted in the sleeve 22.

The ignition tube 21 is mounted on that side of the plate 10 which is opposite or away from the connection with the gas conduit 12, and the end of the ignition tube 21 which is the free end that is the end which is remote from the plate 10 is provided with an outlet opening for the ignition flame; in known manner a screen or sieve 24 closes this outlet opening against contaminants while permitting the ignition flame to pass.

In conventional manner the ignition device 14 is provided with a straight electrode 25, and threaded means 26 extends into the holding means 13 for mounting the ignition device 14 on the latter. The thermo-element I6 is connected with welding means 15 in a similar manner, via threaded means 27.

In accordance with the present invention, the base plate 10 is provided with two projecting ribs 28 and 29 which extends at right angles to one another and the rib 28 extends transversely to the longitudinal axis of the plate 10 and tangential to the outer side of the wall of the ignition tube 21 which faces towards the ignition device 14. The rib 29, on the other hand, extends in parallelism with the longitudinal axis of the plate 10. The ignition tube 21 is composed in the illustrated embodiment of two mirror-symmetrical semi-cylindrically cross-sectioned shells or halves 30 and 31 which may be stampings of sheet material; the tube 21 is mounted on the rib 29 in such a manner that between the edge 32 of its inlet opening 20 and the plate there exists an annular gap G through which the primary combustion air can enter.

As shown, the outer edges 33 and 34 of the ignition tube 21 which in the illustrated embodiment forms a 90 angle are bent over to connect them with one another. The inner edges of the shell sections are provided with the lugs 35 and 36 by means of which the ignition tube 21 is connected with the rib 29.

As already pointed out the ignition tube 21 can be produced by stamping the two sections 30 and 31 and is then connected with the rib 29 by means of screws, bolts, rivets or the like.

It is advantageous for the two ribs 28 and 29 to be of one piece with the plate 10, for instance by making them with the plate 10 as a casting. The rib 28 serves to deflect dirt and other contaminants and prevents dirt particles falling off the screen 24 from being carried 3 into the annular gap G by the aspirated primary combustion air, so that the rib 28 has the purpose of screening the annular gap at the inwardly directed side of the ignition tube 21 against the entry of such contaminants, preventing not only a clogging of the gap (which latter is too large for clogging by comparison with the air apertures known in the prior art) but also the deposition of dirt on the gas jet 23.

It will be appreciated that the device according to the present invention is simple in its construction and that it can be produced and assembled more readily and inexpensively than the devices known from the prior art. The provision of the gap G makes it possible to remove contaminants readily, if necessary even during the actual operation of the device, and this is true even of such contaminants which over a period of time might become deposited on the jet 23 despite the provision of the rib 28.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a device for use with gas appliances, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others canv by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that. from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. In a device for use with gas appliances, in combination, a base plate; a gas igniting device on said base plate; a thermo-electric element of an ignition-safety device; a burner tube having a bend and being composed of two mirror-symmetrical shell sections of semicylindrical cross-section, said burner tube having an end adjacent to and an other end remote from said base plate; and a pair of mounting ribs projecting from said base plate at right angles to one another, one of said ribs extending tangentially of said burner tube and the latter being connected to the other of said ribs so that an annular gap for entry of primary combustion air exists between said base plate and said one end of said burner tube.

2. in a device as defined in claim 1; further comprising mounting flange means of one piece with said base plate.

3. In a device as defined in claim 1, said one rib extending tangentially of the exterior of said burner tube at a side of the latter which faces towards said igniting device.

4. in a device as defined in claim 1, said shell sections having respective mating edges provided with outwardly extending connecting flanges.

5. In a device as defined in claim 4, wherein said flanges at the outer side of the angle defined by said tube are overlapped and connected, and said flanges at the inner side of said angle include mounting lugs for mounting of said tube to said base plate.

6. In a device as defined in claim 1, wherein said ribs are of one piece with said base plate.

7. In a device as defined in claim 1, wherein said plate and said ribs are a one-piece casting. 

1. In a device for use with gas appliances, in combination, a base plate; a gas igniting device on said base plate; a thermoelectric element of an ignition-safety device; a burner tube having a 90* bend and being composed of two mirror-symmetrical shell sections of semi-cylindrical cross-section, said burner tube having an end adjacent to and an other end remote from said base plate; and a pair of mounting ribs projecting from said base plate at right angles to one another, one of said ribs extending tangentially of said burner tube and the latter being connected to the other of said ribs so that an annular gap for entry of primary combustion air exists between said base plate and said one end of said burner tube.
 2. In a device as defined in claim 1; further comprising mounting flange means of one piece with said base plate.
 3. In a device as defined in claim 1, said one rib extending tangentially of the exterior of said burner tube at a side of the latter which faces towards said igniting device.
 4. In a device as defined in claim 1, said shell sections having respective mating edges provided with outwardly extending connecting flanges.
 5. In a device as defined in claim 4, wherein said flanges at the outer side of the angle definEd by said tube are overlapped and connected, and said flanges at the inner side of said angle include mounting lugs for mounting of said tube to said base plate.
 6. In a device as defined in claim 1, wherein said ribs are of one piece with said base plate.
 7. In a device as defined in claim 1, wherein said plate and said ribs are a one-piece casting. 